Possibility
by JessenoSabaku
Summary: Neji was not good with emotions. So he did the only thing he could think to do. Vague NejiLee, if you squint REAL hard. T for language. Oh, and I forgot to put a disclaimer, so here it is. Naruto ain't mine. No money was made.


Neji hated the fact that all he could do was sit and twiddle his thumbs. He hated the fact that the doors to the hospital room did not open and that the nurse didn't strut out with a triumphant smile and words of comfort that said everything was going to be alright. But what he hated the most was that the reason he was enduring the two other things he hated so very much, was because of the one person he thought he'd hated the most.

He'd always been the leader. If someone had to go down so that everyone else could get away, it was him. So why was it different this time? He was sure that he'd planned it all out—when they went on the mission, he had been so confident that he'd figured out every possible horrible ending, and how to get the team out of it. Or more specifically, if the time came, how to get everyone but himself out of it. So he cursed himself and ground his teeth as he saw Tenten's minute shakes out of the corner of his eye, from where she sat next to him outside the room, and Gai pacing across from him, who was so obviously on the verge of crying that he looked pathetic, nothing compared to the "fabulous beast" that paraded about and screamed of youth and its springtime enthusiastically on a daily basis.

Neji's shoulder ached. It had nearly been crushed, and after a visit to a hospital room where they repaired it as much as possible and put it in a sling, it still ached like somebody was crushing it slowly. His chest also ached. Several ribs had been broken. Those had been repaired as much as possible as well. But for some reason, his heart ached, too. It was a funny kind of feeling, because he knew the feeling wasn't sentimental, or like pity. It wasn't even sadness. It was more like it ached in defeat. He had planned so thoroughly, executed it all so flawlessly, and picked apart every possibility down to bone. And yet, he still failed. Once again, just like the time he'd lost to Naruto at the Chuunin Exams, he knew the taste of failure, and it tasted even worse than before.

He'd missed one possibility. He'd missed it just by a hair, and didn't get to consider it. It should've been very obvious, and he cursed himself, because if it had been a snake, it would've bitten him. And even though he'd so blissfully passed it by before, now he couldn't get it out of his head. That was the absolute worst part. The moment itself was nothing in comparison to the tiresome, torturous replay that happened over and over as he waited for a nurse's comforting smile of victory that might never come through the doors.

He took that back. The absolute _worst_ part was the fact that anything green set off the replay in his head, so as he watched Gai pace back in forth in his ridiculous jumpsuit, it was impossible to escape the memory.

There it went again. He felt rushing wind, and saw the large, meaty fist coming at his blind spot as he turned his head, and he knew that it would strike his back and quite possibly break his spine. Chakra glowed around the fist, making it fall faster and stronger. He was in such a stance that he had already finished and failed a previous attack, but couldn't pull back quickly enough that he could get away. There was no way he could avoid the impact.

And then, there was a blur of green, and in a second his breath left him as he was slammed between a body and a rock wall. The stone dug into his face and slammed into his ribs which audibly cracked. The body behind him pushed into his shoulder roughly, and combined with the pressure of the wall from the front, it began to crack as it was slowly pushed towards breaking point. But the force pressing into his back was much less than expected, and he knew why. He heard the snap of a bone that wasn't his own and a nearly breathless cry of pain in his ear. That was where the memory faded to black—that was when the emotions became too confusing, and the events after became jumbled, so much so that all he knew now was that he somehow got to where he was outside the hospital room, waiting along with his team for word of recovery.

After about the fiftieth time of feeling the rock dig into his chest he was getting tired of that mass of green pacing about and pulling his eyes upward towards it, which consequentially set off the memory again. He felt his chest swell in a rush of anger and nervousness, and it swelled with words that spilled over before he could stop them.

"Stop walking around, you're zigzagging like a damn fly," he said suddenly, the bitterness tingeing his usually cool voice like the sharp taste of tea. There was a long awkward pause afterwards. He really had lost his mind to speak out so angrily, when there was obviously no reason to be so spiteful towards his other teammates.

It just bugged him. It just bugged him to see that person missing. To see that that distasteful bowl-cut hairdo was missing from the seat next to him. Usually, it was the two of them sitting there and waiting for somebody else in the hospital room, both covered in bruises and bandages. That guy would notice when the mood would begin to get dim then passionately declare that belief conquers all, so that as long as they believed the patient would make it out okay, so it would be, or something weird like that. Then Neji would huff and turn his head, informing him flatly that he was an idiot, and then that guy would give an indignant squawk, start an argument, and the time would pass swiftly … then the nurse would walk out of the hospital room, head held high, with a smile that sent a wave of relief over everyone.

… But this time, that guy was missing. This time, it was that guy that was in the hospital room. This time, it was _that guy_ who took the fall, and Neji was afraid to even name him, hoping that if he just pretended he was another person, if he died, it wouldn't be him, the man that was missing from the seat next to him. That body that had pressed so forcefully against his back had taken the blow, and that guy's spine was the one that snapped. Neji should've known that it would be just his luck that that guy would play the hero and step in. Everyone else ran like he ordered them to, when they were all injured and he knew that they were too weak to fight. He knew that he would be overthrown easily, and he had accepted it—he accepted that the fate of death would be his to experience. But that guy, only that guy …! Only he denied his order and hid in the shadows, waiting to jump out at the right moment! Only he knew what Neji was planning to give up, and defied it! Who did he think he was, denying the great Hyuuga an honorable ascension?

He struck his hand against the wall, gritting his teeth. Another wave of emotions hit him. So many things he wanted to say and so many of them were filled with curse words and screaming. Then there was a part of him that wanted to just shut itself away forever and never have to speak of anything or deal with the situation or harsh reality ever again. Shame, defeat, self-loathing, anger, sadness, and doubt were only a few of the many things he felt. Not only had he failed his team, but he failed at honorably failing his team. And it was all _his_ fault!

"Damn it, Lee!" That quiet, breath of a growl reached all ears in the corridor. It was so deathly silent, as if it were listening to every bit of him and soaking it all up, aiming to take everything away. And it scared him. He didn't know if it felt like understanding or like hopelessness. As if the silence aimed to take away that very life which he was hoping would be saved just beyond those doors. "Why aren't you guys saying anything? Why aren't you doing anything? Damn it, damn it! It's too quiet! This isn't how it's supposed to be! Why aren't you doing anything?"

He stood and walked over to Gai, pulling him up by his shirt, his grip still powerful even though he should've been weak from the fight. He'd instinctively headed towards the green, as if that green represented the one who he was concerned about, as if he were talking to Lee himself.

"Weren't we supposed to believe, or some crazy bull like that? If that really works, why aren't you trying harder? Why aren't _you_ believing? Certainly if you did instead of sitting on your ass like this …!"

"…"

Neji hadn't expected an answer. Not from Lee, not from Gai, not from anyone. "… Tch."

He let go of the front of the jounin's shirt, resigning in disgust, defeat, and humiliation. Things didn't go as he'd planned, not at all. And now …

The doors swung open, startling all of them out of their wits. Neji hadn't noticed, but all the while, their other companions had been waiting outside as well. This further deepened his humiliation, and he wished he could just fade away … but that feeling immediately took backseat priority. Lavender eyes bored into the nurse exiting the room, expression so intense that when she caught sight of it she had to stop for a moment and remember what it was she'd left to do. Her mind finally caught up with her, and she looked at them all with a smile made uneasy only by Neji's penetrating stare. "There is still some doubt, and there was a lot of difficulty with the procedure, but we believe that after some extensive recovery he will be alright." All the air went out of many pairs of lungs, including Neji's. He felt dizzy and he fought with his leg muscles, trying to keep the feeling from going out of them. "There will be a lot of follow-up treatment, but he is not paralyzed, and—"

Neji didn't even wait for her to finish. He just pushed past her and flew into the room, her bewildered stare directed at his back as everyone else wordlessly followed.

The room was white and clean, two beds in it—one with a patient, one that was empty. The one closest to the door was the empty one. The other bed containing the only patient was behind a curtain. Neji slowed to a walk. Fear rose up in him again. What if he looked beyond the veil and found that the nurse's words were a lie, or a mistake?

He slowly walked past the curtain, peeking carefully and cautiously around to see, before mentally sighing with relief. A distasteful bowl-cut hairdo, large, fuzzy eyebrows, and a machine beeping to signal a steady pulse. He hesitated a moment, not wanting to walk further and somehow find something wrong, and stayed there until dark eyes flickered towards him in surprise, finally catching his silhouette and locking with his. He'd obviously not been expecting that Neji would be the first to look.

"…Neji…?"

"… Lee … you …"

Lee's face broke out into a smile and his loud voice filled the room for the first time.

"You're looking lively! I was worried!"

With that, the others rushed ahead of Neji, clustering around Lee, sobbing and hugging him, laughing and crying hysterically. And suddenly, Neji was feeling very insulted. _Lee_ had been worried about _him_? He'd been going absolutely nuts for the past few hours, sickened with regret and as scared as Hell that he would find that his blunder had resulted in the murder of his teammate!

… And at the same time, he couldn't help but feel gratitude, and admiration. That kindness was raw, honest, and had no intention of damaging his pride. Even though Neji had caused him trouble and pain, Lee acted like everything with the world was right, as long as his rival turned out to be alright.

Neji was not good with emotions. And very unexpectedly, sometimes when it really counted, he was not good with words either. All of a sudden his mind just went blank and only one thing became important to him. Since he was not good at expressing things through words in this time of confusion that wrapped his heart in a web and tethered him in a very uncomfortable position that was hard to understand, he could only concentrate on expressing the thanks which was the most important, and the only way he could repay a debt that could've been worth a life. No, that still was worth a life.

Neji wasn't good with emotions, so he did the only thing he could think to do. The only thing that would be so completely out of character in such a certain way that Lee alone might be able to understand.

When an opening in the crowd formed, he reached forward with that arm that was in the sling, ignoring the pain that shot through his shoulder, and rested his hand on Lee's head. All conversation halted and many eyes pressed against him from all sides. Lee's looked up into his directly, his expression changing into a surprised one for the second time that day.

"…"

"…"

With that, Neji had resigned. No one would probably recognize it, but he'd given up. Since the first day that Lee had yelled in his face that his determination would be Neji's downfall, he'd never thought that he would be beaten. But here he was, finally giving in. He finally surrendered, in a way that was completely defeating, because once again he'd never even noticed the possibility that it could come about this way.

He couldn't even say the words. He couldn't even mouth the phrase "Thank you." He tried to, but just ended up opening and closing his mouth wordlessly. After a few more silent moments he pulled his hand back and turned, walking away and out through the doors, moving quickly down the corridor. All eyes watched him as he left even more wide-eyed than when he'd touched Lee's head, wondering what had gotten into him.

… So no one noticed Lee's smile. An incredibly small smile, but one that was filled with so much more meaning than all the wide, toothy grins he'd made in the past.

He'd seen and understood Neji's actions. He knew he'd melted the cold, mighty Hyuuga's heart.

So, just maybe, in its own little way, which had surprisingly enough turned out to be more satisfying than the method he'd originally intended, hard work and determination finally defeated natural genius.

That was one previously unknown possibility that came as a pleasant surprise to Lee.


End file.
